Thorny devil
Moloch horridus
— Where the name comes from
Moloch is the name of an ancient Semitic deity to whom victims were sacrificed, invoked for the reptile’s “infernal” look; horridus is Latin, “bristling, frightful”, from the spines that cover it. For all its grim reputation it is a harmless ant-eater of the Australian desert.
— Facts
- Group
- Reptiles · Reptilia
- Order
- Squamates
- Habitat
- Sandy desert and arid scrub
- Range
- Central and western Australia
- Size
- 15–20 cm
- Diet
- Insectivore — almost nothing but ants
- Lifespan
- 15–20 years
— Characteristics
- 01
The body is entirely covered in horny spines that discourage predators.
- 02
It has a “false head” on the neck: when it lowers its real one, it presents this as a decoy.
- 03
It changes colour, darker in the cold, paler in the heat, to regulate temperature.
— What sets it apart
The thorny devil drinks with its skin: its surface is run through with microscopic grooves between the scales which, by capillary action, gather every drop — dew, rain, even the moisture of wet sand it rubs against — and channel it to the corners of the mouth. It does not need to find a pool: it need only stand on damp ground, and the water climbs its body to its lips of its own accord. An animal that drinks by standing still in the desert.
